Harwich News

HARWICH — Aquacultural Research Corporation will go before the conservation commission next week seeking approval to place a shellfish upwelling system in the recently shored-up fish house on the Herring River.
ARC has been working with the owners of the fish house, Francis and Debra Zarette, for more than a year to place a shellfish nursery in the structure. The Zarettes last year filed a notice of intent wit...

Harwich voters go to the polls Tuesday, May 16 to decide a three-person race for two three-year terms on the board of selectmen. Below, candidates Larry Ballantine, Don Howell and Rob Mador answer questions posted by The Chronicle. The polls at the community center will be open from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m.
Name: Larry Ballantine
Age : 72
Occupation : Semi-retired; own several rental properties
How long ...

HARWICH — There is some movement on permits the town is seeking from the Army Corps of Engineers for the dredging and reconstruction of docks and floats at Saquatucket Harbor, with the agency putting out notice that it is accepting public comment on the work.
The town had hoped to have the project underway this past winter, but ran into permitting problems with the ACE. The permitting problems were twofold: On...

HARWICH — Voters will face a lengthy ballot when they go to the polls on Tuesday for the town's annual election. They will choose two new selectmen from the three candidates vying for those positions, and will be asked to act on 15 questions, seven relating to funding issues, seven charter amendments and one non-binding referendum relating to Pilgrim Nuclear Power Plant.
The ballot is three pages long, with th...

HARWICH — Town meeting members made it clear last week they want to retain the West Harwich schoolhouse in its present location. Selectman Peter Hughes told the board this week the message he took away from the vote was for selectmen to be stewards of the historic structure.
Sally Urbano, who has been active in the Captains' Row Historic District initiative along Route 28 in West Harwich, offered a positive mo...

HARWICH — While town meeting provided strong support for the $3 million landside improvements to Saquatucket Harbor, there were a couple of ancillary votes in last week's session relating to the harbor project and its funding.
On the second night of town meeting, voters debated for an hour the sale of town-owned land on Bank Street. The land, 2.08 acres, contains the former fire station, which has been used fo...

HARWICH ─ When students in the Monomoy School District submitted their answers in the 2014 Youth Risk Survey, the results were disconcerting. Two years later, the most recent survey results show improvement, but also a need for parents and educators to remain vigilant.
The survey, created in 1990, was first given to Monomoy students in 2014 with results showing then that district students regularly engaged i...

HARWICH — The Friends of the Council on Aging, Inc. will file a petition in Barnstable County Probate Court to redirect approximately $700,000 it has raised over more than 40 years for constructing a senior center to instead fund programs, counseling, facilities and education to benefit senior citizens in town.
The petition is being filed in the form of a complaint with the state Attorney General's Office, whi...

HARWICH — The health department has issued a cease and desist on the wholesale food and piggery operations at Resilient Family Farm. The department is also seeking immediate compliance with best management practices for manure storage.
The cease and desist order was issued to owner Barry Dino Viprino the day before the health department issued a report on a complaint about contaminated surface water in the cre...

HARWICH — The Saquatucket Harbor landside renovation project received the endorsement of town meeting voters on Monday night. In doing so, voters rejected an amendment that sought to reduce the $3 million request and phase in harbor renovations.
Monday night's session saw heavy discussion of the harbor project and the phase two articles seeking funding for wastewater (see related story), but there were other b...

Once, choosing a high school was limited to public or private. Now, with school choice, options for students are seemingly limitless. So how do young people and their families make such a major decision?
With much thought and investigation.
School choice allows students to attend public schools other than those in the town they live in. On Cape Cod, the majority of public school districts welcome many non-d...

HARWICH — The cost of treating wastewater to sustain water quality was a weighty issue for some homeowners in town meeting on Monday night. After a lengthy discussion, a two-thirds majority vote passed approving more than $11 million to begin the second phase of the town's comprehensive wastewater management plan.
The message was clear that if steps were not taken to address wastewater issues, the town would l...